Helping others as a form of ego grasping

Hi all,

I was doing some thinking today about how we create meaning in our lives and I realised something about myself.

One thing that I am quite attached to is the notion of helping others and making the world a better place. That’s not to say I have all the answers but it’s important to me to feel as though I am benefiting others and leaving the world a slightly better place.

Anyway what I realised is that for me, there is a certain amount of ego grasping involved in that. Not in the sense of needing approval or praise from other people necessarily, it’s more that my own self worth is bound up in the idea that my life is somehow made meaningful by the interactions and “good” I can do.

It’s kind of a tricky line, because of course helping others can be a positive thing and I’m not going to abandon that.

But I am exploring how much of it is from genuine compassion and how much of it is from a need to create a self identity from that. Perhaps it’s not possible to truly separate them, or perhaps it is.

In any case I found it an interesting reflection.

submitted by /u/notsleepingthinking
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